Under The Rotting Pizza
by Double D
Summary: Noir style fanfic set in Midgar at the time of the first Reactor bombing. One man's life is changed when ShinRa make him an offer he can't refuse! Needs feedback PLEASE REVIEW!
1. Prologue

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the named characters from the FF7 game. Basically, if you recognise a character, it isn't mine! However, the narrator/detective is my property. Now that's over with, enjoy…_

**Prologue:**

Not much call for a Private Investigator these days. People tend to take matters into their own hands. Ever since they built that Goddamn plate in the sky. It's all very well for those who live on top, out in the sun and out of the slums. People like me can't remember what daylight looks like unless we see it on TV. Street lights aren't quite bright enough in the old city. The city underneath. The slums.

**Chapter 1:**

Thursday, 21:00, Sector 7: Tifa's Bar.

A forceful shuddering woke me up. Fucking night trains. My tired eyes refocusing on the bar, remembering where I was. Johnny the Punk walked through the creaky saloon doors of the Seventh Heaven as I lit up my last cigar. Hell, if I was gonna be broke, might as well enjoy what I got left. I took a big drag, savouring the moment as Johnny parked his skinny ass at the table opposite. Noticed that Marlene was crying again. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she swept the floor. Poor kid. Her daddy's never around anymore; always out protesting about the Shin-Ra Corporation and starting some kind of shit. Good job Tifa was usually around to take care of her.

Ahhh, Tifa. Now there was a classy dame. Everyone from Sector 7 knew Tifa. She was the kinda gal everybody just loved. She has owned the Seventh Heaven since before I moved to Sector 7 and it was the kinda joint that us locals could meet up and chew the fat. You know, collectively complain bout our miserable lives.

Tifa looked beautiful in her dirty white tank top. I'm guessing she's had a hard life. Guy with twenty years experience notices stuff like that. It's in the eyes.

Anyways, she was tying back her lush, long black hair behind the bar. My glass well and truly empty I decided to spend my last three and a half Gil on a large malt whiskey. This would be the highlight of my evening. Although it was made even better by Tifa, who only charged me for half the price. She flashed me a cheeky wink through those melancholic eyes of hers.

Just as I'd turned to sit back down I noticed out the corner of my eyes the 14 inch black and white TV behind the bar. On the screen flashed the words,

"Important! Breaking news…"

The Number One Mako Reactor across Midgar had been bombed by a rebel environmentalist group, knocking out most of the power in the surrounding Sectors. That was all the slums needed. Those reactors are the only things that keep us on the bottom level supplied with power. Sure, they damage the ecosystem but we still need electricity.

Midgar City is going to Hell anyway; I'd rather not be in the slums when it does. But bombing Shin-Ra property? Man that takes some balls.

Johnny the Punk was going off on one to Alice from the goods store about how Shin-Ra was finally getting what it deserves. Paid no attention to him, guy's usually high off of something anyway. I was just about to take a hit of my drink when Barret came charging in…

Bastard starts screaming about how "It's closing time!" He kicks Johnny's table over before taking my drink and flinging it outside. I aint gonna argue. The guy is easily 6'5" and built like a brick shithouse. He starts firing shots from that machine gun mounted to his arm; I didn't stick around.

Outside, I hoped my drink might be intact or at least be in a puddle that I could salvage. Saw some scrawny looking kid at the bottom of the steps with bright blond hair and carrying one of the biggest swords I ever saw. Not that that fazed me, everyone carries some sort of protection nowadays. Nothing like being subtle though. Figured he was with Barret. He just strolled into the 'Heaven despite the big lump spouting off. Cutting my losses, I went home.

Thursday, 22:00, Sector 7: My Apartment.

Drunkenly, I ricocheted off the sides of the door frame as I let myself into my apartment building. Or at least it used to be a building when there was only one level to Midgar. Now it stands only four floors high. 'City Expansion Program' my ass. Aint nobody lives here now except me and my fat downstairs neighbour, Wedge. Don't even see him much nowadays.

My door was unlocked and slightly ajar when I stepped out onto the third floor. Just when I didn't think my night could get any worse, too.

Pulled out my revolver and quietly crept through the door. Robbing bastards were gonna get it. Couldn't see signs of anything taken. Got to the door of my office. To my surprise, it was the prettiest Goddamn intruder I ever saw.

There she was, sitting in my chair, at my desk, smoking my cigarettes. Her back was towards me, facing the window overlooking the Train Graveyard. Then she spun around; her shoulder length golden blonde hair trailing behind her as her emerald green eyes met mine.

"Let me guess, you think your husband is cheating, and you want me to follow him, right?"

She stood up; elegantly gliding towards me. Her magnificent cleavage shook with each step, almost bursting out of her long but revealing red dress. No gal from the slums dressed like that. I noticed she had a charm around her neck as she edged closer – the Shin-Ra Inc. insignia embossed in gold.

"We're looking for a traitor…" she said, blowing smoke into my face. That's when I recognised her. It was a face I'd seen on TV before. A voice I'd heard on the wireless, usually when an announcement is made by the Shin-Ra. It was Scarlett, one of the corporation's senior members and the most powerful woman in Midgar.

"I'm retired, miss," I told her. I might have been on the verge of bankruptcy but my pride wouldn't let me work for Shin-Ra. After all, it's their fault I gotta live under the pizza.

"Our Number One Reactor was bombed earlier tonight."

"I heard. Damn, you guys work fast."

"We know who it was. But we need to find their accomplice. And you are the one to find him. He is an ex member of SOLDIER."

I'd heard some bad things about SOLDIER. Apparently, they are an elite team of mercenaries trained and brainwashed by Shin-Ra. The kid at the weapon store says the Shin-Ra do some kind of experiments involving Mako energy. Genetic mutation and that shit. Wouldn't surprise me.

"Told you, I aint interested," I reassured her.

"President Shin-Ra himself has expressly told me he wants you to do it. He knows of your past reputation of getting things done."

"Fuck President Shin-Ra!"

"We'll pay you 750 thousand Gil. Half now, half upon completion."

"When do I start?"

Hey, a guy's gotta make a living…


	2. The Morning After

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the named characters from the FF7 game. Basically, if you recognise a character, it isn't mine! However, the narrator/detective is my property. Now that's over with, enjoy…_

**Chapter 2:**

Friday, 11:30, Sector 7: My Apartment

As I pick myself up off the floor, all I can hear is the ceaseless drone of the cars above. I'd slept in again. My head hurting like a bitch. I look down at the floor at the vomit from the night before. Hell, did I dream that whole thing up last night?

I know for sure Barret kicked me outta the bar. I know for sure I got home. But I could have sworn Scarlett of the Shin-Ra was here waiting for me. My confusion was eased as I see the envelope on my desk.

Tearing open the seal, an angelic smell caressed my nostrils. The same aroma I'd smelt the night before. It was all coming back to me. I looked at the notepaper – Shin-Ra Inc. logo in the top right corner – The handwriting of an educated woman…

"Check your bank account"

Nothing else apart from an "S" to signify its writer. Shit, working for the Shin-Ra. I aughtta beat _myself_ up.

Friday, 12:10, Sector 7: Train Station

Walking through the market square I see the usual gossip mongers. Don't know why Scarlett didn't ask them to do the job. They seem to know everything. I overhear their crazy conspiracy theories. One of them was that Tifa was in on the bombing. Heh heh, imagine that.

I wait at the train station for the 12:15 express to Sector 1. I figure somebody must have seen something last night. It's not as if it's a quiet area, I mean its one of the main shopping areas in the slums. And I know Loveless was showing at the Midgar Ritz last night. Somebody must have seen something…

I grab my seat on the train opposite that guy again. He is a departmental manager at the Shin-Ra Tower. Nobody knows his name. Everyone hates him 'cause of who he works for. Kinda feel sorry for him. All the local thugs pick on him.

Speaking of which, I see Barret climb aboard the train along with Tifa and that scrawny blonde guy I saw outside the Seventh Heaven last night. I notice out the corner of my eye the Shin-Ra manager letting out a sigh and mumbling something under his breath.

"Thought I told you last night about disrespecting me!"

Barret must've heard the guy. He stomps up to the manager, pulling on his jacket and roughing up the guy's previously well-groomed hair. The blonde kid pulls Barret away as the guy scuttles into the next carriage.

Barret and Blondie then start sizing each other up. By the look of it, Blondie would have kicked Barret's ass, despite being half his size. I just notice Tifa pulling them apart as I start to doze off.

Friday, 12:45, Midgar Rail: Somewhere near Sector 5

A siren shakes me out of my semi-conscious state. My eyes open to a pulsating red light as the tannoy announces that there are "unidentified suspicious individuals" on board. This ID card scheme has been maybe the only thing that the Shin-Ra has done right. Stops all kinds of creeps moving around the city. Well, up until last night anyway. They announce a carriage lock-down. Shit, I got nothing to worry about, my ID is clean.

I see Barret, Tifa and Blondie rush past me into the next carriage. So does my downstairs neighbour, Wedge along with a guy and a gal I don't know. Don't know why they're running away, the lock-downs only last around five minutes.

…

Hold on a sec, Scarlett said the guy they're looking for is Ex-SOLDIER…

Aint never seen a civilian with eyes like that blonde kid had…

Or stand up to a guy like Barret without knowing how to fight….

And he _did_ look filthy last night when I saw him outside the bar…

Oh shit…

I pick myself up, start to chase after them. My heart pounding. What if I'm right? Three quarters of a million Gil for literally two hours work! I get no more than 2 metres away from the connecting door when I hear a solid "Clunk" and I know the door is locked.

Shit.

I flop down into my seat. Resign to the fact that I now gotta do some proper friggin' detective work.

The homeless bum starts singing in his usual spot at the corner seat of the carriage I'm in and I realise that this'll probably be the only entertainment I'm gonna get out of the day…


End file.
